WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange speaks to the media in 2012 at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London.

By

PaulSonne

WASHINGTON—The “Vault 7” trove of documents released Tuesday by WikiLeaks has been cited by commentators to claim that the Central Intelligence Agency may have been masquerading as other foreign states while conducting its cyberhacks. The documents being cited, however, offer no smoking gun.

The idea that the CIA posed as foreign actors has gained currency among people who are using the WikiLeaks disclosure to question the U.S. intelligence community’s conclusion that Russia hacked the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clinton’s campaign chairman last year in order to help elect President Donald Trump. These political commentators and outlets are implying the campaign hacks could have been a CIA operation.

“CIA uses techniques to make cyberattacks look like they originated from enemy state. It turns DNC/Russia hack allegation by CIA into a JOKE,” internet entrepreneur Kim Dotcom wrote after the release in a tweet picked up by ZeroHedge, a financial blog known for its antiestablishment worldview. Dotcom, who founded the file-sharing website Megaupload, is wanted in the U.S. on charges including criminal copyright infringement, money laundering and conspiracy to commit racketeering.

Conservative commentator Laura Ingraham promoted the same line of reasoning in an exchange with host Sean Hannity on Fox News, claiming the leaks show U.S. intelligence agencies using countries like Russia as a scapegoat for their own attacks.

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